Processor independent line driving and receiving system

ABSTRACT

A programmable system includes a core processing unit to perform various data operations. The programmable system includes a transceiver having programmable analog and digital devices that, when initially configured by the programmable system, receive and collect status information of other programmable systems independently of the data operations performed by the core processing unit.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/509,384, filed Jul. 24, 2009, and also claims benefit of andpriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/083,893, filedJul. 25, 2008, both of which are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to electronic circuits, and moreparticularly to a processor-independent line driving and receivingsystem.

BACKGROUND

Many electronic systems include multiple on-board processing devicesthat can communicate with each other, for example, through differentialsignaling. Differential signaling is often utilized by these processingdevices, as it provides greater noise immunity and allows for longersignal routes.

SUMMARY

This patent application discloses a processing system to directperformance of data operations for the device and a transceiving systemincluding programmable analog and digital components that areconfigurable by the processing system. The transceiving system, wheninitially configured by the processing system, to exchange and monitorstatus information of one or more remote processing systems with theprogrammable analog and digital components independent of the processingsystem.

In some embodiments, a system includes multiple programmable systemsthat each include a core processing unit to perform various dataoperations. The multiple programmable systems each include a transceiverhaving programmable analog and digital devices that, when initiallyconfigured by their respective programmable systems, receive and collectstatus information of other programmable systems independently of thedata operations performed by the core processing unit.

In some embodiments, a method includes receiving status information froma remote processing device with differential signaling, and storing thereceived status information in a register. The register is alsoconfigured to store local status information. The method furtherincludes transmitting the received status information and the localstatus information to at least another remote processing device withdifferential signaling.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams of example system configurationsallowing multiple programmable systems to communicate status informationwith each other according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram example of a programmable system shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram example of a transceiver system shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram example of an exception handling circuitryshown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram example of a communication hub shown in FIG.1B.

FIG. 6 is an example operational flowchart for the operation of theprogrammable systems according to embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A programmable system on a chip (PSOC) or other electronic system caninclude a core processing device and programmable analog and/or digitalcomponents that can work in conjunction to perform various dataoperations. These programmable analog and/or digital components can beconfigured to implement a processor-independent transceiving system tocommunicate with other programmable systems without involving the coreprocessing device. In some embodiments, the programmable system on achip can utilize the transceiving system to exchange status information,such as operating temperature and current consumption, with the otherprogrammable systems. The transceiving system can monitor the statusinformation of all of the programmable systems for variances orexception conditions and then proactively attempt to address thevariances without burdening the processing device of the programmablesystem on a chip. Embodiments are shown and described below in greaterdetail.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams of example system configurationsallowing multiple programmable systems to communicate status informationwith each other according to embodiments of the invention. Referring toFIG. 1A, a system 100A includes multiple programmable systems 101A-Dcapable of performing various data processing operations, as directed bya core processing device (not shown) in each of the programmable systems101A-D. As will be discussed later in greater detail, the programmablesystems 101A-D include programmable analog and digital components (notshown) that, when configured by the core processing device, canimplement various analog and digital hardware components, such as aanalog-to-digital converters, signal filters, etc, that can manipulatedata signals received by the programmable systems 101A-D.

The multiple programmable systems 101A-D can each include acommunication system 200A-D, respectively, allowing the multipleprogrammable systems 101A-D to communicate with each other. Thesecommunication systems 200A-D are processor-independent, i.e., they canoperate independently of the core processing devices of the multipleprogrammable systems 101A-D. In other words, the multiple programmablesystems 101A-D can exchange information with each other withoutinvolving the core processing devices of the multiple programmablesystems 101A-D or consuming the processing resources of the coreprocessing devices. The communication systems 200A-D can be implementedin hardware, and, in some embodiments, the programmable systems 101A-Dcan dynamically configure programmable analog and digital components inthe programmable systems 101A-D into the communication systems 200A-D.

The multiple programmable systems 101A-D can be arranged in a ringconfiguration that allows the communication systems 200A-D to receivestatus information from at least one neighboring programmable system,e.g., through status signaling 202, 204, 206, or 208. The communicationsystems 200A-D can store the status information alongside itslocally-detected status information, and transmit the received statusinformation along with its local status information to at least anotherneighboring programmable system. Since each communication system 200A-Dcan transmit status information of all of the multiple programmablesystems 101A-D, each communication system 200A-D can locally store thestatus of all of the multiple programmable systems 101A-D even whencertain communication systems 200A-D do not directly communicate witheach other. In some embodiments, the multiple programmable systems101A-D can be arranged to implement multiple rings, allowing for quickeravailability to status information from the programmable systems 101A-D.

The communication systems 200A-D can also monitor the status of theprogrammable systems 101A-D through the status information, and in someembodiments, the communication systems 200A-D can prompt correctiveaction when the monitored status deviates from a predetermined level orrange. The communication systems 200A-D can further monitor the statusof the programmable systems 101A-D and prompt corrective action withoutinvolving the core processing devices. In some embodiments, thecorrective action can include alerting a user or administrator of thevariance in status, for example, by activating an alert device, such asa light-emitting diode (LED) light or other annunciation device. Thecorrective action can also include activating or deactivating coolingdevices or shedding current consuming loads controlled or utilized bythe programmable systems 101A-D in an attempt to change the deviantstatus. Embodiments of the acquisition, distribution, and monitoring ofstatus information, as well as the various corrective actions that canbe prompted by the communication systems 200A-D will be described belowin greater detail.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the system 100B includes multiple programmablesystems 101-1 to 101-N that are similar to the programmable systems101A-D shown and described above in FIG. 1A. The programmable systems101-1 to 101-N each include a communication system 200-1 to 200-N thatcan exchange status information with a communication hub 500. Thecommunication systems 200-1 to 200-N are similar to the communicationsystems 200A-D shown and described above in FIG. 1A, in that theyoperate independently of core processing devices (not shown) in theprogrammable systems 101-1 to 101-N. In other words, the communicationsystems 200-1 to 200-N can send and receive status information with thecommunication hub 500 without utilizing processing resources of the coreprocessing devices in the programmable systems 101-1 to 101-N.

The communication hub 500 can include a hub communication system 510 toreceive status information from each of the programmable systems 101-1to 101-N, e.g., through status signaling 201-1 to 201-N. Thecommunication hub 500 includes a status information memory 520 to storethe status information that the communication hub system 510 receivesfrom the programmable systems 101-1 to 101-N. The hub communicationsystem 510 can send status information of all of the programmablesystems 101-1 to 101-N to the communication systems 200-1 to 200-N.Embodiments of the communication hub 500 will be described below ingreater detail.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram example of a programmable system shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B. Referring to FIG. 2, the programmable system 101includes a processing device 110 and programmable analog and digitalcomponents 120 that, when configured by the processing device 110, canimplement various analog and digital hardware components, such as aanalog-to-digital converters, signal filters, etc, that can manipulatedata signals received by the programmable system 101. The processingsystem 110 can include one or more processors and at least one memorydevice to store instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, can configure the programmable analog and digital components120 or perform various of processing tasks for the programmable system101.

In some embodiments, the programmable analog and digital components 120can be configured to include local status detection circuitry 125 thatcan detect status information of the programmable system 101. The statusinformation can include a temperature associated with the programmablesystem 101, a current consumption associated with the programmablesystem 101, and/or other performance indicators that the programmablesystem 101 wants a communication system 200 to collect and possiblymonitor independent of the processing system 110. The local statusdetection circuitry 125 can provide the detected status information ofthe programmable system 101 to the communication system 200 for storage,and possibly monitoring, via global analog routing 122 and/or globaldigital routing 124.

The programmable system 101 includes a communication system 200 toexchange status information with other programmable systems withoutburdening the processing resources of the processing device 110. Asdiscussed above, the programmable system 101 can exchange statusinformation directly with the other programmable systems or can exchangethe status information indirectly through a communication hub 500.

The communication system 101 includes a transceiving system 300 totransmit and receive status information of other programmable systems,for example, through a differential output 301 and a differential input302. In some embodiments, the differential output 301 and differentialinput 302 at least partially comply with a low voltage differentialsignaling (LVDS) specification. Although FIG. 2 shows the communicationsystem 200 exchanging differential signals, in some embodiments, thetransceiver system 300 can input and output signals other thandifferential signals.

The transceiving system 300 includes a transmitter 310 to receive statusinformation to be transmitted to at least another programmable systemand to format the status information into a form compatible fortransmission based on a transmission protocol. For instance, thetransmitter 310 can append a preamble to the status information allowinga receiving programmable system to understand that the transmissionincludes status information. In some embodiments, the transmitter 310can also generate an inverse version of the status information to beadded to the data to be transmitted, which can be used for transmissionerror detection. The transmitter 310 can provide the single-endedtransmission data to a differential output device 315 that can generatea differential output 301 from the single-ended transmission data.

The transceiving system 300 includes a differential input device 325 toreceive a differential input 302 that includes status information fromat least another programmable system. The differential input device 325can generate a single-ended version of the differential input andprovide the single-ended input to a receiver 320. The differential input302 can be formatted similarly to the differential output 301, i.e.,according to the transmission protocol. The receiver 320 can performvarious operations on the single-ended input, such as verify that thedifferential input 302 conformed to the transmission protocol andextract the status information. For instance, the receiver 320 canverify a preamble indicates the input includes status information, andcan check the input for transmission error. Embodiments of thetransceiver system 300 will be described below in greater detail.

The communication system 200 includes status registers 220 to storestatus information detected locally in the programmable system 101, forexample, by the local status detection circuitry 125, and store receivedstatus information of other programmable systems. The communicationsystem 200 includes a direct memory access (DMA) controller 210 totransfer status information to and from the status registers 220 basedon transaction descriptors 232 in a transaction descriptor memory 230.For instance, when status information is received by the transceivingsystem 300, the DMA controller 210 can retrieve one or more transactiondescriptors that prompt the DMA controller 210 to transfer the receivedstatus information to the status registers 220.

The communication system 200 can include a timer 240 to send signals tothe DMA controller 210, which prompt the DMA controller 210 to transferstatus information from the status registers 220 to the transceivingsystem 300 for output. In some embodiments, the signals from the timer240 can be periodic, allowing the communication system 200 the abilityto transmit the contents of the status registers to other programmablesystems or to a communication hub 500 independently of the processingsystem 110.

In some embodiments, the number of DMA channels utilized by thecommunication system 200 can be dependent on the configuration of theoverall system 100. For instance, when in a ring configuration, the DMAcontroller 210 can have a DMA channel for each ring that is implemented.When in a centralized hub configuration, the DMA controller 210 canimplement a DMA reception channel for each port of the communication hub500, i.e., the number programmable systems 101 coupled to thecommunication hub 500. In some embodiments, the communication system 200can be dynamically reconfigured, for example, by the processing device110, to work in a ring configuration or a centralized hub configuration.

The communication system 200 can monitor the status information in thestatus registers 220 to determine when an exception condition occurs. Anexception condition can occur when the status information indicates thatone or more parameters of a programmable system have deviated from apredetermined normal operating range or level. For instance, the statusinformation can include a current consumption parameter for each of theprogrammable systems, and the communication system 200 can monitor thecurrent consumption parameters, of individual programmable systems or asan aggregate of all of the programmable systems, to determine whether ithas risen above a preset threshold. In another example, the statusinformation can include a temperature of the programmable systems, andthe communication system 200 can monitor a temperature parameter of thestatus information to determine when a temperature of at least one ofthe programmable systems is no longer within a preset range or hasexceeded a preset level. This monitoring of the status information forthe programmable systems can be performed without any involvement by theprocessing system 110.

The programmable system 101 includes exception handling circuitry 400 totake an action when the monitored status information indicates that anexception condition has arisen. The exception handling circuitry 400 canreceive one or more control signals 209 from the communication system200 indicating that an exception condition has occurred, and can performa predetermined action responsive to the control signals 209. In someembodiments, the predetermined action can be to alert a user of theexception condition, for example, through an annunciation technique. Thepredetermined action can also be a corrective action, such as turning onor turning off a fan based on the monitored temperature, or to shed loadthat are consuming current when the monitored status informationindicates current consumption exceeds a predetermined threshold.Embodiments of the exception handling circuitry 400 will be describedbelow in greater detail.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram example of a transceiver system 300 shown inFIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 3, the transceiver system 300 includes adigital communication device 311 to receive transmission data 303, forexample, status information from the status registers 220 via the DMAcontroller 210, and format the transmission data 303 for transmission asa differential output 301. The digital communication device 311 can alsoextract status information or received data 304 from a differentialinput 302. In some embodiments, the digital communication device 311 canbe a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART), a serialperipheral interface (SPI), or custom device or system.

The transceiving system 300 can be implemented by programmable analogand digital components that can be configured by the processing device110 to transmit and receive differential signals based, at least inpart, on the low voltage differential signal (LVDS) specification. Insome embodiments, the transceiving system 300 can include one or morespecial input/output (SIO) interfaces having programmable input andoutput threshold levels to accommodate low voltage signaling, generalpurpose input/output (GPIO) interfaces can implement various pads, andmultiple universal digital blocks (UDBs) configurable to implement thedigital communication device 311 when configured by the processingdevice 110.

For data transmissions, the digital communication device 311 can encodethe status information from the status registers 220 according to atransmission protocol. In some embodiments, the digital communicationdevice 311 can build transmission data by appending a preamble to thestatus information and also generating and adding an inverted version ofthe status information to the transmission data. The transmission datacan be provided to output pad 318. The transmission data can also beinverted by the inverter 312 before being provided to output pad 314.The transmission data provided to the output pads 314 and 318 make upthe differential output 301. In some embodiments, additional pads 313and 319 can be added in parallel to output pads 314 and 318,respectively, to increase drive strength of the differential output 301,for example, when driving low impedance loads. The differential output301 can include resistors 316 and 317, which can be configured or sizedto ensure a certain current flow can occur between the differentialsignal paths at the receiving end in based on specifications from a lowvoltage differential signaling standard. In some embodiments, thecurrent flow between the differential signal paths can be set toapproximately 3.5 mA.

For data receptions, the differential input 302 can be received byseveral input pads 324, 326, and 328. Prior to reception at the inputpads, the transceiver system 300 can include various electricalcomponents 327 and 329 to tune the voltage difference between the twodifferential signal paths. Electrical component 327 can be a combinationof a resistor and a capacitor to filter or tune at least one of thesignal lines of the differential input 302. Electrical component 329 caninclude one or more resistors coupled between the signal lines of thedifferential input 302. The transceiver system 300 can include resistor331 to provide an adequate current flow to the input pad 324.

The differential input 302 received by input pad 326 is provided to acomparator 321, while the differential input 302 received by input pad328 is provided to a multiplexer 323 along with one or more comparisonsignals. The multiplexer 323 selects one of the inputs to be provided tothe other input of the comparator 321 for comparison with the signalfrom input pad 326. The output of the comparator 321 is provided to ananalog-to-digital converter 322 and subsequently provided to the digitalcommunication device 311. In some embodiments, the output of theanalog-to-digital converter 322 can be fed back to the comparator 321 asa comparison signal to reduce hysteresis in the comparator. The inputreceived at input pad 324 is provided to the digital communicationdevice 311 for status information extraction and error detection.

The digital communication device 311 can decode the input received fromthe input pad 324 and the analog-to-digital converter 322 to determinethat the differential input 302 includes status information. The digitalcommunication device 311 can extract the status information or receiveddata 304 from decoded input according to a transmission protocol andforward the status information to the status registers 220 via the DMAcontroller 210.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram example of an exception handling circuitry 400shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 4, the exception handling circuitry400 receives control signals 209 from the communication system 200indicating one or more of the programmable systems 101 have an exceptioncondition. The exception handling circuitry 400 can generate one or moreoutput signals, such as a load shedding signal 441, a fan control signal442, and/or other exception handling signal 443, in an attempt toaddress the exception condition.

The exception handling circuitry 400 can include a graceful exceptionhandling device 401 and an immediate exception handling device 402 toreceive the control signals 209 and to direct activation circuitry 440to generate one or more of the output signals 403-405. The immediateexception handling device 402, upon notification of an exceptioncondition in the status information, can take immediate action to removethe exception condition. For instance, when there is excess currentconsumption, the immediate exception handling device 402 can direct theactivation circuitry 440 to shed all loads immediately through a loadshedding signal 403. In some embodiments, the number of loads that areshed can be fewer than all of the loads, but still preset to be shedupon notification of the exception condition.

The graceful exception handling device 401 can implement a gradualapproach to curing an exception condition by incrementally prompting theactivation circuitry 440 to send signals 403-405 over time. For example,when there is excess current consumption, the graceful exceptionhandling device 401 can direct the activation circuitry 440 toincrementally shed loads through a load shedding signal 403 until theexception condition is remedied.

The graceful exception handling device 401 includes a priority register420 to store a prioritized list of exception actions. For instance, in aload shedding situation, the priority register 420 can include aprioritized list of loads to be shed. When the graceful exceptionhandling device 401 receives a control signal 209, the gracefulexception handling device 401 can start a counter 410 to increment witha predetermined frequency. The graceful exception handling device 401includes a comparator 430 to compare the priority registers 420 with avalue of the counter 410. When the comparator 430 finds a match betweenthe counter 410 and the priority register 420, the comparator 430prompts the activation circuitry 440 to issue at least one of thesignals 403-405. En the load shedding example, the comparator 430 canprompt the activation circuitry 440 to issue a load shedding signal 403that sheds the load identified in the priority register 420 as matchingthe counter 410.

The implementation of the counter 410 and priority register 420 allowsfor a time-based approach to exception handling and also allows theexception handling circuitry 400 the ability to handle exceptionconditions, such as over current conditions or overheating conditions,without involving the processing device 110.

When each programmable system 101 includes a similar graceful exceptionhandling device 401, the exception handling can be performed in adistributed manner across the overall system 100. For instance, when anoverheating condition arises, different programmable systems can beprompted to turn on one or more fans to help airflow and cooling overtime based on their priority registers 420. Similarly, in an overcurrent situation, the shedding of loads to reduce the currentconsumption can be spread across any number of the programmable systems.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram example of a communication hub 500 shown inFIG. 1B. Referring to FIG. 5, the communication hub 500 includesmultiple port transceivers 511-1 to 511-N to exchange status informationwith the programmable systems 101-1 to 101-N. The port transceivers511-1 to 511-N can receive signaling that includes status informationfrom the programmable systems 101-1 to 101-N and forward the signalingto framing and data extraction circuitry 530. The framing and dataextraction circuitry 530 can decode and extract the status informationfrom the signaling, and store the status information in statusinformation registers 520. In some embodiments, the framing and dataextraction circuitry 530 stores the status information to the statusinformation registers 520 through DMA operations.

The communication hub 500 can include a local status detection circuitry540 to detect a local status of the communication hub 500. The localstatus detection circuitry 540 can add the local status information tothe status information registers 520, for example, through DMAoperations. In some embodiments, the communication hub 500 can monitorthe status information in the status information registers 520 forexception conditions and also perform various exception handling tasks,similar to those performed by the programmable systems 101-1 to 101-N.

During data transmission operations, the communication hub 500 transfersthe status information stored in the status information registers 520 tothe framing and data extraction circuitry 530. The framing and dataextraction circuitry 530 can encode the status information according toa transmission protocol. For instance, the framing and data extractioncircuitry 530 can append a preamble to the status information. Theframing and data extraction circuitry 530 can also generate the inverseof the status information and add the inverse of the status informationto the transmission signaling.

The framing and data extraction circuitry 530 can provide thetransmission signaling to each of the port transceivers 511-1 to 511-Nfor transmission to the programmable systems 101-1 to 101-N. In someembodiments, the framing and data extraction circuitry 530 can preparethe status information for transmission to the programmable systems101-1 to 101-N periodically, for example, based on a timer.

FIG. 6 is an example operational flowchart for the operation of theprogrammable systems according to embodiments of the invention.Referring to FIG. 6, in a block 610, the communication system isconfigured to receive status information of a remote processing device.The communication system can receive the status information directlyfrom the remote processing device or indirectly through a centralizedhub. The communication system can receive the status information withoutinvolving the processing device of the programmable system. The statusinformation can be embedded in a packetized signal based on atransmission protocol. The communication system can decode packetizedsignal according to the transmission protocol and extract the statusinformation from the packetized signal.

In a block 620, the communication system is configured to store thereceived status information in a register. The communication system caninclude a DMA controller to transfer the received status information tothe register through DMA operations. The register is configured to storelocal status information that can be detected by various othercomponents in the programmable system. The communication system canstore the status information without involving the processing device ofthe programmable system.

In a block 630, the programmable system is configured to transmit thereceived status information and the local status information to at leastanother remote processing device. The communication system can utilizethe DMA controller to transfer the status information from the registerto a transmitter. The transmitter can encode the status information intoa packetized signal according to a transmission protocol, i.e., add apreamble and an inverse version of the status information, beforetransmitting the packetized signal to at least one programmable system.The communication system can transmit the status information from theregister without involving the processing device of the programmablesystem.

In some embodiments, the programmable system can transmit the packetizedsignal that includes the received status information and the localstatus information to a centralized hub. The centralized hub can relaythe received status information and the local status information to theat least another remote processing device.

In a block 640, the communication system is configured to monitor thestatus information stored in the register to determine when an exceptioncondition occurs. The communication system can monitor the statusinformation stored in the register without involving the processingdevice of the programmable system.

In some embodiments, the exception condition can indicate that one ormore programmable systems detected excessive temperature or that thereis excessive current consumption by one or more of the programmablesystems.

In a block 650, the communication system is configured to generate atleast one control signal that prompts a change in the status of aprogrammable system based on the exception condition. The controlsignals can prompt an exception handling device to take an action toremedy to the exception condition. The action can include shedding loadsthat are causing the excessive current consumption, activating a fan orother cooling device to reduce a temperature of the system, or notify auser of the exception condition.

The exception handling device can perform one action to remedy theexception condition immediately or perform a series of actions thatgradually or gracefully over time attempt to remedy the exceptioncondition. The gradual or graceful approach is achieved by activating acounter responsive to the exception condition, comparing the counter toa preset priority register, and generating at least one control signalthat prompts the change in the status of the programmable system whenthe counter is equal to a value in the preset priority register.

One of skill in the art will recognize that the concepts taught hereincan be tailored to a particular application in many other ways. Inparticular, those skilled in the art will recognize that the illustratedembodiments are but one of many alternative implementations that willbecome apparent upon reading this disclosure.

The preceding embodiments are examples. Although the specification mayrefer to “an”, “one”, “another”, or “some” embodiment(s) in severallocations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is tothe same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a singleembodiment.

1. A device comprising: a plurality of programmable analog and digitalcomponents; a core processing unit to configure the plurality ofprogrammable analog and digital components to perform data operations;and a transceiving system including a set of the plurality ofprogrammable analog and digital components that are configurable by theprocessing system, the transceiving system, when initially configured bythe processing system, to exchange and monitor status information of thedevice and one or more remote processing systems through signaling,wherein the set of programmable analog and digital components of thetransceiving system are configured to operate independently of the coreprocessing unit to exchange and monitor the status information in thatthe set of programmable analog and digital components does not involvethe core processing unit and does not consume processing resources ofthe core processing unit to exchange and monitor the status information.2. The device of claim 1, wherein the transceiving system comprises: atransceiver to receive the status information from the one or moreremote processing systems through differential signaling; and a registerto store the received status information and local status information ofthe device, wherein the received status information pertains to thestatus information of one or more remote processing systems and thelocal status information pertains to the status information of thedevice, wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit contents ofthe register to the one or more remote processing systems.
 3. The deviceof claim 2, wherein the transceiving system further comprises a directmemory access controller to transfer the received status information tothe register or to transfer the status information stored in theregister to the one or more remote processing systems according tostored transaction descriptors.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein thedirect memory access controller is configured to periodically transferthe status information stored in the register to the one or more remoteprocessing systems.
 5. The device of claim 1, further comprising anexception handling circuit to receive control signals when the statusinformation indicates an exception condition in the device or at leastone of the one or more remote processing systems, wherein the exceptionhandling circuit is configured to attempt to alleviate the exceptioncondition.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the exception conditionindicates that the device or at least one of the one or more remoteprocessing systems is consuming current over a threshold value, andwherein the exception handling circuit is configured to prompt thedevice to shed one or more loads consuming current responsive to theexception condition.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the exceptionhandling circuit is configured to generate an immediate load sheddingsignal which prompts the device to shed all loads consuming current. 8.The device of claim 6, wherein the exception handling circuit isconfigured to gracefully shed one or more loads consuming current basedon a preconfigured load priority.
 9. The device of claim 5, wherein theexception condition indicates that the device or at least one of the oneor more remote processing systems has measured a temperature outside apreset range or over a preset temperature threshold, and wherein theexception handling circuit is configured to control activation of one ormore temperature control devices responsive to the exception condition.10. A system comprising: a plurality of programmable systems that eachinclude a core processing unit to perform various data operations and aplurality of programmable analog and digital components some of whichare configured by the core processing unit to operate as a transceiverconfigured to receive and collect status information of other ones ofthe plurality of programmable systems through signaling, wherein thetransceiver is configured to receive and collect the status informationindependently of the data operations performed by the core processingunit in that the transceiver does not involve the core processing unitand does not consume processing resources of the core processing unit toreceive and collect the status information.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the plurality of programmable systems are arranged in a ringconfiguration with each of the plurality of programmable systemsexchanging status information with one or more neighboring ones of theplurality of programmable systems.
 12. The system of claim 10, furthercomprising a communication hub to exchange status information with theplurality of programmable systems, wherein the communication hubreceives and collects status information from the plurality ofprogrammable systems and transmits the collected status information tothe plurality of programmable systems.
 13. The system of claim 10,wherein the plurality of programmable systems each include exceptionhandling circuitry to remove one or more exception conditions indicatedby the status information.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein theexception conditions indicate that one or more of the plurality ofprogrammable systems, individually or in combination, are consumingcurrent over a threshold value, and wherein the exception handlingcircuitry for at least one of the plurality of programmable systems isconfigured to shed one or more loads consuming current responsive to theexception condition.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the exceptionconditions indicate that one or more of the plurality of programmablesystems has measured a temperature outside a preset range or over apreset temperature threshold, and wherein the exception handlingcircuitry for at least one of the plurality of programmable systems isconfigured to control activation of one or more temperature controldevices responsive to the exception condition.
 16. A method comprising:receiving status information at a programmable system from a remoteprocessing device with differential signaling, the programming systemcomprising a core processing unit and a plurality of programmable analogand digital components some of which are configured by the coreprocessing unit as a transceiver to receive the status information;storing the received status information in a register, wherein theregister is configured to store local status information and thereceived status information, wherein the local status informationpertains to the programmable systems and the received status informationpertains to the remote processing device; and transmitting the receivedstatus information and the local status information to at least anotherremote processing device with differential signaling, wherein saidreceiving, storing, and transmitting is performed without involving andconsuming resources of the core processing unit for said receiving,storing, and transmitting.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein thestatus information is received and transmitting with differentialsignaling based, at least in part, on a low voltage differential signal(LVDS) specification.
 18. The method of claim 16 further comprises:monitoring the status information stored in the register to determinewhen an exception condition occurs; and generating at least one controlsignal that prompts a change in the status of a programmable systembased on the exception condition.
 19. The method of claim 18 furthercomprises: activating a counter responsive to the exception condition;comparing the counter to a preset priority register; and generating atleast one control signal that prompts the change in the status of theprogrammable system when the counter is equal to a value in the presetpriority register.
 20. The method of claim 16 further comprisestransmitting the received status information and the local statusinformation to a centralized hub that relays the received statusinformation and the local status information to the at least anotherremote processing device.